At the heart of the plan is a giant solar power plant (around 40 square miles) in the middle of the desert, which redefines the way solar energy is created.

Rather than the traditional method of using a range of photovoltaic solar panels to absorb the sun’s energy, the project uses “concentrated solar power” instead.

Simply put, this process uses mirrors to refocus the sun’s force to a central tower, where water and molten salt is heated to 932 degrees Fahrenheit. That energy powers a turbine, which creates electricity.

Nur Energie CEO, Kevin Sara, explains the benefits of this system: “The technology that you can deploy in the desert is baseload renewable power. That means you can actually replace fossil fuel power plants because we can generate 24/7 using solar power.”

The goal is to shoot that energy to the Tunisian coast, where it’ll be whisked to a European hub in northern Italy via an undersea cable. From there, it’s hooked up to the European electricity grid.

This is no idle project, either…

A 10-Million-Euro Energy Plan

The developers have poured 10 million euros ($12.4 million) into it and believe that “desert power” has the ability to wean Europe off fossil fuels. And it’s particularly important, given persistent geopolitical concerns over energy security.

As Sara states, “We believe this is really opening a new energy corridor. This could be the first of many projects, and we could gradually de-carbonize the European grid using this solar energy with storage from the Sahara Desert.”

Not only that, it promises to help Tunisia with its own energy needs and stabilize a market that’s still recovering from the uprising in 2011 that squashed GDP growth and jobs.

Cheers,

Martin Denholm

Martin Denholm boasts a wealth of experience in the financial publishing industry. Over the past 15 years, he's worked as an investment analyst, senior correspondent, and managing editor for many stock and options newsletters, e-letters and websites, covering a wide range of sectors, industries, and companies. Learn More >>

Comments (1)

I wonder if the developers are looking issues with a similar though smaller solar thermal system in the US Southwest. That system will end up producing energy that costs about $253 per MWh which when compared to the $65 to $85 per MWh for fossil fuels or nuclear is not competitive.
Another issue in the US Southwest that may or may not impact Tunisa is that hundreds of birds are killed each week at the US facility. The air in front of the mirrors heats to 800 degrees F creating a killling zone that literally broils the hapless birds that fly through the area alive.
The combination of these two issues should make the solar thermal plants a no go.

Machine-learning algorithms are cleverly downloading faces from social media pages like Facebook… and then uploading those faces to unsavory videos. This is the latest example of technology moving faster than our moral ability to use it.

One mystery trader just rolled over a massive volatility bet that could pay out $260 million if he’s right again. Can you blame him? He’s got seven-plus years of the bull trend on his side. Well, none of that means squat if you’re Goldman Sachs.